Section Members
Name | Role | |
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Dan Warren, Ph.D. |
Section LeaderDan: Originally from Oklahoma, Dan got his bachelor's degree from Florida State University and a Ph.D. in Population Biology from the University of California, Davis. He has since worked as a researcher in Texas, Australia, Germany, and now is the head of the Environmental Science and Informatics section at OIST. Dan specializes in developing big data approaches to answer basic questions in evolution and ecology, and is the lead author on several popular R packages (ENMTools, RWTY). His fieldwork is mostly on marine fishes, but he has published scientific papers on organisms including insects, deep sea invertebrates, mammals, lizards, birds, and even Pokémon.
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Masashi Yoshimura “Yoshi”, Ph.D. |
Okinawa Field Research Team LeaderYoshi: Upon graduating university, he became a middle school teacher in Rishiri Island, Hokkaido, where he taught environmental education. While out in the field, he discovered the world of ant research and decided to pursue a doctoral degree to become a male ant expert. After obtaining his Ph.D. degree, he carried out his post-doctoral research in Kyushu University and California Academy of Sciences, then came to OIST in 2014 as a Staff Scientist. Since 2015, he has been coordinating the OKEON Churamori Project, an Okinawa-wide network of universities, museums, schools and citizen scientists to monitor the environment of Okinawa. In 2019, a part of this project became independent as the Environmental Science Section (ESS), which is now part of the Environmental Science and Informatics Section (ESI). His expertise is in ant taxonomy, systematics and morphological evolution, as well as conservation biology. |
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Kenneth Dudley, M.S. |
RS Specialist, InformaticsKenneth is a research support specialist with a focus on informatics and GIS. |
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Masako Ogasawara |
RS Specialist, Assistant coordinator of the OKEON Churamori ProjectMasako: In the summer of 2013, she was led by a researcher to look at an ant under the microscope. After the memorable encounter with the ant up close, she was drawn into the strange world of research as an Assistant. When the OKEON Churamori Project was established, she became an Assistant Coordinator where she brings her excellent communication skills to the full potential. She continues to develop the collaborative network in Okinawa for the OKEON Project. |
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Mayuko Suwabe, Ph.D. |
RS Specialist,
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Jake Lewis |
RS Technician,
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Shinji Iriyama |
Research AssistantShinji-san: A tinkerer both in the field and the lab, he is the designated Engineer and Troubleshooter of the team. He’ s also a foodie who will take you to the best diners to refuel after fieldwork. |
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Toshihiro Kinjo |
Research AssistantToshi: Extremely diligent with indoor and outdoor tasks, and gifted with the ability to make better typhoon path predictions than the latest computer simulations! Currently an avid moss collector. |
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Yoko Kudaka |
Research AssistantYoko: Always smiling in the field and shines when assisting team-hosted workshops. |
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Seiichiro Nakagawa |
Research AssistantSei-chan: Keeps the team at a perfect balance between relaxed and motivated. Don’t let his calmness trick you though- he’s got the best comebacks! After work, he transforms into an artist. |
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Shoko Suzuki |
Research AssistantShoko: In charge of a range of tasks, including taking images of ants, submitting research permit applications and going to the field. Enjoys foraging food from nature and cooking it. |
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Takumi Uchima |
Research AssistantTakumin: A young curator and data enterer who enjoys going out on insect collection trips on weekends on top of his fieldwork on weekdays. He especially has an undying love for diving beetles (Dytiscidae). |
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Cassondra George |
Research AssistantCassondra: She moved from her hometown in Oregon, USA, to get her bachelor’s at Hokkaido University in Japan. During her bachelor’s she conducted research and field work on owls in Okinawa and became acquainted with OIST. She later became one of the first Research Support Interns at OIST and continued to study Okinawa owls through the OKEON passive acoustic monitoring system. After graduating and then spending almost a year in Oklahoma, USA to raise critically endangered Attwater’s Prairie Chickens for release, she now works at OIST helping to make the passive acoustic monitoring data more accessible for research. She has a strong interest in the outdoors, sports, wildlife, and research. |